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3 Idiots

Though 3 idiots is a little more slapsticky than the Munnabhai series, the crass humor seems to be with a purpose. What remains fascinating is the blend of comedy with his social messages, as usual. He makes being good look so simple.

It is so simple to be good in Hirani-land. You beg, borrow or steal with good faith to be a lovable, charming person in the land of idiots. And how much ever I hate the use of fiction in a realistic set-up, I end up enjoying each of his worlds. Maybe because, like most people, I want to believe that it is possible to be good in this mean-mean world. Also it's nice to see a comment on the educational system and the Indian-parent psyche, both competing to kill invention and creativity.

In fact, this time around, it felt like Rajkumar Hirani has taken it upon himself to challenge every single complaint that I have against typical Hindi masala films. I hate slapstick. He uses it - it's justified after all (the setting is a boy-dominated college and an all-boy hostel.) And DAMN! He makes me laugh at Mr. Bean-Tom & Jerrystyle jokes. And out loud at toilet and sex-related jokes! :( He uses that sttuppid marriage-melodrama scene. Yet, I'm egging the bride on to run away, completely disregarding the little change in plan-of-action that Hirani employs.

As in typical slaptick comedies the actors ping-pong between loud and melodramatic. You can call that brilliant acting, or say you cannot judge the actor because he is doing what the genre demands - take your pick. Then there's that slapsticky, loud background music too. And the list goes on. I want to hate this man's guts, but can't help admire the way the typical toilet-humor so fluidly mixes with the insight that comes next.

Though I fear he's taking the slapstick a little further with each of his ventures. A little further towards making the content appeal to the palate of the "masses". Be it the overuse of songs or clichés which are smartly covered under the guise of spoofs. Using a 40 year old actor to play a 17 year old. It is mildly irritating this time, the next time the annoyance might increase.

But that doesn't mean he hasn't taken any risks. The lead lady Pia (Kareen Kapoor) makes her first appearance on screen only in the 45th minute of the film. The kind of humor he uses itself is risky. Such serious, sensitive, and real issues are laughed at whole-heartedly - by the characters. Such dark humor! And well, the audience too was laughing, but that doesn't reduce the risk taken, right?

This might be the most obvious statement that one can make about the film, but how can you not say it when you have seen it. This film would have been hollow without its dialogues and their delivery. And despite the occasional shallow humor. And even if a few of them are sms/e-mail forwards. Its what they lead up to that's more engaging. All fingers point back to the man, Rajkumar Hirani, who has written the dialogues and directed their delivery.

While some of the phrases coined will become references in everyday conversations, the mantra "Aal izz well" has been taken to the extreme in the film's writing. The screenplay makes sure the audience knows from the beginning that "aall izz well" in the end.

So, yeah, you can call it predictable. And some of the events are predictable because the screenplay has given that one extra second for you to think and guess what's going to happen next. But those are semantics. The point raised or answered after that predictable moment is not something you'd think of - at least not all the time.

Another huge element of writing - characterization - is mostly done by use of caricatures. From Chatur/Silencer to Prof. Sahastrabuddhe (Boman Irani); from his supposedly-soon-to-be son-in-law to even Rancho (Aamir Khan), they all look like they are out of a comic book. But then you have seen a character like that in your circle of friends - the one who names the price/brand of an object before you ask for it, the one who is competitive ad nauseum, the one who spouts philosophy every third second.

But that lingering element of masala is not to be missed. There are no gray characters. Rancho, for example, has huge strokes of Raghu from Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Bawarchi. But there was still something mysterious about Raghu, something that made you curious about him. But here, you know Rancho could do no evil even if he wanted to.

And yet Rancho makes you laugh, he jerks your tears. One or the other emotion is at a high, all the time. But, the question I have about all films that give a "message" in a lighter vein - will the laughs stick or the message? Will we just laugh every time someone says "o bhaiyya, aal izz well" or will we subscribe to the fact that "all's well"?

Thumbs up,
by Bobby Sing,
Bobby Talks Cinema.com
:
...fulfills every promise it made and entertains the viewer completely with its engrossing and enlightening content based upon some real life happenings, we see and read about every day....
full review

Thumbs up,
by Daliya Ghose,
Bollywood Mantra
:
...Aamir Khan again shines in this film. He was superb in every department of acting. Madhavan also created a strong impact. Sharman Joshi was equally superb....
full review

Thumbs up,
by Nandita Dutta,
DearCinema
:
...The film makes a hard hitting comment on the education system of today. ...
full review

Thumbs up,
by Bikas Mishra,
DearCinema
:
...The strength of the film lies in its screenplay that seamlessly moves back and forth in time....
full review

Thumbs up,
by Aniruddha Guha,
DNA
:
...The following review may strike you as gushy, overzealous, or exaggerated in praise. But films like these are made once in a while and, so, superlatives are in order....
full review

Thumbs up,
by Deepa Garimella,
fullhyd.com
:
...Rancho is a cheerful, optimistic whiz kid who is impossibly indifferent to success or failure, and while letting him tower around what is technically a world of lesser mortals, Hirani puts forth his counsel on the issue, vehemently terming it murder....
full review

Thumbs up,
by Martin D'Souza,
Glamsham.com
:
...All these aspects and more are beautifully woven into the screenplay to sock you right under your chin without sounding preachy....
full review

Thumbs up,
by Kaveree Bamzai,
india today
:
...t has an aphorism for every occasion-especially the memorable one, all izz well-but it is more than the crackling writing. ...
full review

Thumbs up,
by Susan Jose,
India-Forums
:
...Sharman Joshi is one person who was there in the last adaptation of Chetan Bhagat's novel and also in this one. He has a gift for comedy. But in this film, the boy is seen struggling to break out of his shell....
full review

Thumbs up,
by Kaveree Bamzai,
india.com
:
...This is a movie made in a burst of inspired lunacy and thank god for madmen such as Raju Hirani and co-writer Abhijat Joshi for making it possible....
full review

Thumbs up,
by IANS,
indiainfo.com
:
...The director is strangely shy of displaying emotions. So he counters the melodrama of his third hero Raju Rastongi (Sharma Joshi)'s life with black-and-white 1960s' self-mocking background music...
full review

Thumbs up,
by Gaurav Malani,
indiatimes
:
...The introduction sequence of the principal is hilarious and so is an annual day Hindi speech of honour by an NRI student....
full review

Thumbs up,
by Amrita,
Indiequill
:
...He’s sharp, he’s supercharged, he’s quick, he’s one of “The Khans” (note the capital letters). There are a lot of things Aamir is, but a fuck-up ain’t one of them. Even when Aamir plays a loser, he’s a heroic, righteous loser....
full review

Thumbs up,
by Kshitij Mehta,
J.A.M
:
...Although the story of the film is not the best, it is the execution by Hirani that takes the cake...
full review

Thumbs up,
by Vidhi M,
merinews
:
...R Madhavan shows the most ease with his guise of Farhan Qureshi, affably switching to flashback and the present....
full review

Thumbs up,
by Sarita Tanwar,
MiD DAY
:
...Based on Chetan Bhagat's novel, Five Point Someone (though only a miniscule part has been adapted from the book; the rest is all original), here's a story of three friends studying in an engineering college...
full review

Thumbs up,
by Mr. Inketi,
Mr. Inketis Weblog
:
...After an awfully long time and in the midst of an industry steeped in depression we have a film where from the first scene to the last there is something fun happening on the screen...
full review

Thumbs up,
by Mayank Shekhar,
NDTV
:
...We don't make original thinkers who could pick up a Nobel prize for an invention. ...
full review

Thumbs up,
by Jahan Bakshi,
Now Running.com
:
...Despite the fact that 3 Idiots is an eminently watchable film, it is undeniable that this is a film in serious need of some trimming....
full review

Thumbs up,
by Namrata Joshi,
Outlook India
:
...Hirani’s childlike sense of fun does go risque and politically incorrect in the vignettes of college life. But then, isn’t irreverence, impertinence and colourful lingo the trademark of being young?...
full review

Thumbs up,
real bollywoood
:
...It’s not that ‘3 Idiots’ is a flawless work of art. But it is a vital, inspiring and life-revising work of contemporary art with some heart imbued into every part....
full review

Thumbs up,
by Manish Gaekwad,
StarBoxOffice
:
...Where David Dhawan has slapstick, Sooraj Barjatya is a wedding planner, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has delusion of grandeur, Madhur Bhandarkar has faux grit, Rajkumar Hirani rummages through all these pockets to serve his consommé of cinema which has everything going for it...
full review

Thumbs up,
by K K Rai,
STARDUST
:
...The director has been ably aided in this venture by the superb script and screenplay of the film. ...
full review

Thumbs up,
by Nikhat Kazmi,
Times of India
:
...The high point of the film is the fact that director Rajkumar Hirani says so much, and more, without losing his sense of humour and the sheer lightness of being. ...
full review

So-So,
by Noyon Jyoti Parasara,
AOL INDIA
:
...But what probably goes wrong is that director Rajkumar Hirani seemed to have started enjoying the film so much that he just could not cut out a lot of unwanted scenes....
full review

So-So,
by Blogeswari,
Blogeswari
:
...Raju Hirani is a master at pizhinchifying sentiness out of you with a tinge of humor and 3 Idiots is of the same type....
full review

So-So,
by Baradwaj Rangan,
Blogical Conclusion, The New Sunday Express
:
...Ignore his primitive staging, and Hirani is our Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the Gallic charmer who, through the winsome whimsies of Amélie, set about ameliorating the world’s ills with a hop in the step and a gleam in the eye...
full review

So-So,
by Anand Vaishnav,
Buzz18
:
...The cracks begin to surface when the plot meanders from its core. Lot of scenes in the second half are long and over drawn....
full review

So-So,
by Anuj,
Indian Auteur
:
...Hirani seems to possess an enthusiasm reminiscent of the French master, Jacques Tati. His films, much like Tati’s, consistently choose to exist in a state of indecision – perplexed between the lure of a fruitful future and the charm of a simpler past...
full review

So-So,
by Subhash K Jha,
Now Running.com
:
... if flogging the sacred cows of our institutionalised system of governance in cinema is not just an excuse to pull out all stops and let the young heroes have all the fun that their more disciplined counterparts deny themselves. ...
full review

Thumbs down,
by Raja Sen,
Rediff
:
...borrowing a Farah Khan-style old school flashback but refusing to go all-out funny -- and instead labouring really hard to make a point, the aforementioned one about college and suicide. I repeat it because he does, and he does it over and over again....
full review

This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Plot Summary

Rancho (Aamir Khan) is a student of Engineering who is more interested in the Science rather than the jargon. He teaches Farhan (R Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi) to look at their lives the same way.

What Worked

The little things that comment on society today like - the wife doing Pranaayam (breathing exercises) while her attention sways everywhere or the blatant use of phones in a library

Boman Irani's lisp - awesome!

Coinages like "millimeter, jahaanpana, and of course aal izz well"

If the statistic is right - 1 student per hour kills himself in India. Then it is a shocker. And I think all of us need to know that.

The improvisations - whether they work in reality or not, and whether they are possible or not - they were fun to watch.

The cinematography in the climax scene.

The editing of the joobi-doobi song. And the birdie dance too

What did not

Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here

The slowish start. With Madhavan's whole airplane routine. It was unengaging.

How did Rancho know the exact part of the door frame the senior would piss at?

Boman Irani's Einstein look.

Why can't a person on screen strumming a guitar strum it to time it with the strings playing? It looks so damn bad!

The hostel was too neat and clean for a boy's hostel.

So, the whole campus knows someone has died and only our 3 Idiots run to him? Why?

Rancho happily jumping in to give Pia some free advice. It's not like he was doing it for everybody. That bit just didn't work.

Nitty-Gritty

This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, "we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it". I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.

So our man, Raju took his toothbrush but forgot to put on pants. He has his priorities right, alright! Hygiene is more important than appearances!

Ha ha! The word "piss" actually found place in a English-Hindi dictionary!

Awesome T-shirts they all had!

Nice sherwani that Suhas character had. Hope it becomes a trend-setter.

Parental Guidance:

Violence: Suicides are shown.

Language: A lot of toilet and sex-related humor. Lines which could be construed as disrespect to teachers/parents. But I'd still take my kids, because I believe they have a right to speak their mind, even if it means insulting me.

Comments (14)

I really enjoyed the first half. I feel the second half was quite a drag. The movie would have been better if it had remained true to the book Five Point Someone. In the 2nd half the director tried to stuff in so many things that the film ultimately choked. Especially, the baby delivery scene was ridiculous. And Amir's character could have done with some gray shades. Overall a good film but it had the potential to be brilliant.

Godbole saahab, ab hasi aayi to aap se chhoopa to nahi sakte. And i subscribe to the message too. The two main things the director wanted to do, he achieved. Overall it was an enjoyable experience, kya karein batao?

Animesh, yeah, you are right about 'it could have been brilliant' and Aamir was too goodie-good. But I loved the delivery scene...it was so silly that it was hilarious and the writer knew it too!

its a dam gud movieee. it tells wat todays youngsters want from their parents, teachers nd community. it focuses on parents not pressurising their children to become doctors or engineers rather should let their kids to be wat they want... its amazing 3 hours o fun, emotions nd full tooo masti of college time....... GO ND WATCH THIS MOVIE.... is worth paying 500 rupees for this movie......

veeneet has posted 1 comments and has rated 0 movies. See veeneet's page for more details.

Your reviews are good, but your parental guidance is inadequate and inaccurate. 3-idiots is peppered with dialogues about "balatkar" yet you have no reference to that. The movie is good, but let the parents have complete info and then decide whether they want their kids to watch.

@desiparent i have mentioned in the parental guidance section that there is a lot of sex-related language and disrespect. I didnt mention exact words because it sort of spoils the joke for the people who'd watch the film.

@Anurag there you are! thank you for your input.

about the nitty-gritty -

I'm not the writer, so I wouldn't know for sure, but here's my assesment -

1. Well Indians are all over the place. When in Spain, in a little village, there was an Indian restaurant run by a person of Indian origin. A Gujrati in Shimla isn't that big a stretch.

2. He had sworn not to get in touch with people related to the college. And she was Virus' daughter? Maybe that's why.

3. Jesus! No pun intended...are you a conspiracy theorist or what?! You should join Bollywood as a specialist, what say?

4. Well, why did ALL the humor have to be related to the potty or the sexual organs?

5. Chatur took it seriously, Rancho didn't and he wasn't supposed to go back to the college as per his vow to the Chachads of Gujrat.

A question that occurred to me later was -

Why wasn't Wangdoo not at Chachad senior's funeral? Would have saved us quite some time, you know :D